Academy Award-nominated actor Terrence Howard revealed he turned down a Lee Daniels-helmed biopic about legendary Motown musician Marvin Gaye as a result of it could require him to discover the Prince of Soul’s rumored homosexuality.
Talking with Invoice Maher on his Membership Random podcast, the Empire star recalled “the most important mistake I made in my profession,” which was rejecting Smokey Robinson’s supply to play him in a biopic after the King of Motown invited him out to dinner. On the time, he mentioned, he was in the midst of talks for the Gaye biopic and “was being devoted to Lee Daniels as a result of I had given him my phrase as man.”
Howard mentioned the information “broke [Robinson’s] coronary heart,” whereas host Maher remarked that the exploration of Gaye’s life would have been “way more fascinating” as a result of “there’s much more drama,” given the What’s Going On artist’s killing by his father.
“You’d have been excellent as Marvin Gaye,” Maher added.
Provided that neither challenge ended up coming to fruition, Howard defined that he was as soon as on the late Quincy Jones’ home when the pioneering document producer confirmed Gaye’s sexuality. “I’m asking Quincy, ‘I’m listening to rumors that Marvin was homosexual’ and I’m like, ‘Was he homosexual?’ And Quincy’s like, ‘Sure,’” Howard recounted.
Consequently, the Iron Man actor mentioned he “couldn’t” play the position. “They’d’ve needed to try this, and I wouldn’t have been in a position to try this.”
When Maher clarified, “You imply you couldn’t kiss a man on display in a film?” Howard replied, “No. As a result of I don’t faux it.”
“I couldn’t kiss a person both,” Maher agreed.
Howard went as far to say: “That may f— me. I might minimize my lips off. If I kissed some man, I might minimize my lips off.”
In the meantime, Maher paused, awkwardly chuckling, and added, “It doesn’t make me homophobic to not wish to kiss a person.”
“That’s wonderful, do what you like to do, however don’t do it at me, don’t goal it at me,” Howard concluded, “and I can’t play that character 100%, I can’t. I can’t give up myself to a spot I don’t perceive.”
All through the years, there have been a number of makes an attempt to depict Gaye’s life onscreen. Most not too long ago, Deadline completely reported in 2021 that Warner Bros. had landed an Allen Hughes-directed challenge with producers Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine and Andrew Lazar from a script by poet-playwright Marcus Gardley (2023’s The Shade Purple).
